


Movie Theater

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21675583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets sick at an IMAX theater.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	Movie Theater

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in 2008ish.

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Alex?” Jack asked as he put his shoes on.  
“Yeah, we don’t want you to get worn out and sick again,” Rian added.  
“I think I’ll be okay. I feel a lot better, and I don’t have a fever anymore,” Alex replied. A couple days before, Alex had gotten a stomach bug that left him feeling miserable. He got sick a lot, he had a fever, and generally felt terrible. They had a show both days that he was really sick, and it was very hard for him, since his stomach was so messed up.   
Now, they had an off day and the other three had planned to see a movie at the mall in the city that they’d just played the night before. Alex woke up feeling a lot better and with no fever, so he asked his friends if he could tag along, which they weren’t expecting.  
“As long as you’re sure, dude. Hey, we have enough time to get lunch, so let’s eat in the food court so we don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on popcorn and shit,” Zack suggested.  
“Good idea. I hope they have Chinese food!” Jack exclaimed.  
“I bet they do. Let’s go ahead and go, we don’t want to push the time too much and end up being late for our movie,” Rian stated. With that, the four of them walked off of the bus and inside the mall. Since it was a weekday, it wasn’t too busy, to their delight.   
Rian and Zack got Italian food while Alex followed Jack to the Chinese restaurant, not sure of what to get. He ended up getting the same thing as Jack, and it was a lot more food than he’d expected. He still didn’t fully have his appetite back yet, so he knew there was no way he’d finish it.  
“Looks like Rian and Zack found a table,” Jack said, leading Alex to the booth their friends picked out. As they ate, they talked about tour, and a couple setlist changes they thought would make the show better.  
As Alex predicted, he was about halfway done with his lunch when he decided that he didn’t want anymore, which his friends noticed.   
“Is that all you’re having?” Zack asked, sounding surprised.   
“Are you feeling sick again?” Jack added.  
“No, I’m perfectly fine, I just don’t have my appetite back yet,” Alex replied, closing the lid to his box.  
“Fair enough, don’t force yourself or anything,” Rian replied as they continued their conversation about tour. Once the other three were done, they threw away their trash before walking over to the theater.  
As soon as they walked inside, the intense smell of butter and popcorn made Alex’s stomach start to twist. He tried to ignore it as the four of them made their way to the ticket counter.  
“Hey guys, what will it be?” the cashier asked.  
“Four for the Marvel movie,” Rian replied.  
“Sounds good. It’s an IMAX movie, so it’ll cost a bit more than normal tickets, if that’s alright,” the cashier explained.  
“Oh shit, we didn’t know that. But this’ll be so cool, what an awesome movie to see in IMAX!” Jack exclaimed as Rian and Zack shared looks of excitement. Alex gave a fake smile, trying to hide the discomfort he was feeling.   
The four of them paid and selected their seats before going over to the huge theater. They were the first people inside, which they all liked.  
“This is fucking awesome!” Jack exclaimed as he ran around the area where the screen was.  
“Jack, can’t you act like an adult for, like, one day?” Zack asked with a laugh.  
“Fuck that. Let’s go sit down,” Jack replied. Their seats were in the back and in the middle of the row. Alex sat on the end next to Jack and discreetly held his stomach, hoping that is friends wouldn’t notice.  
“I’m glad you were able to come with us, and that you’re feeling better. I hate seeing you sick,” Jack said to Alex.  
“I’m glad I could come, too,” Alex said with a smile that he hoped was able to mask how he was feeling. Eventually, some more people came into the theater, and the trailers started to play. Just the sounds and camera movements on the screen made Alex’s stomach hurt even more, and he was starting to feel unsure of how he’d actually be able to make it through the actual movie, since it was two hours long.   
He did his best to focus on the plots of the trailers and not on how he was feeling, but it was hard since the camera movements were making him feel like he was motion sick. Finally, the movie started and the four of them gave each other smiles of excitement. The opening theme made Alex get a headache, which did nothing to help with the sick feeling he already had.   
After fifteen minutes, Alex knew that he was going to get sick, and that he quickly needed to get to a bathroom.   
“Jack, I’ll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom,” Alex said, starting to get up.  
“Really? Dude, the movie just started, surely you can wait for a bit,” Jack replied.  
“I definitely can’t. I’ll be right back,” Alex said before quickly walking down the steps and out of the theater. His stomach churned as he went into a stall and kneeled in front of a toilet. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, wishing that he hadn’t eaten the Chinese food from earlier, and realizing that he wasn’t doing as better as he thought that he was.   
Seconds later, he started to get sick. After a few minutes, he stopped and realized that he was done. He didn’t want to go back yet, since he knew the effects in the theater would just make him feel sick again, so he stayed on the floor, still hugging his stomach since it still felt off.   
About ten minutes later, Jack noticed that Alex hadn’t come back, and he started to feel a bit worried. He got up and made his way over to the bathroom. When he got there, he saw one stall was shut, and saw the person using it was kneeling on the floor.  
“Alex, are you in here?” Jack asked, starting to feel concerned for his friend.  
“Yeah, hang on,” Alex replied weakly. Jack heard a flush, then the stall door opened. Alex walked out of it holding his stomach and looking a bit pale.  
“Shit dude, what happened?” Jack asked.  
“The combination of the food we had, the popcorn smell, and the effects in the theater weren’t good for me, on top of the bug I’m getting over” Alex replied in a quiet voice.  
“Did you throw up?” Jack continued.  
“Yeah, I don’t feel as sick now, but I don’t think that I can go back in there and watch that movie for the next two hours. I really thought I was over this thing,” Alex replied, sounding bummed out.  
“I’m sorry, man. do you want me to go back to the bus with you?” Jack offered.  
“No, the tickets for this were super expensive. I’ll go back myself, you three should stay here,” Alex replied.  
“Are you sure?” Jack asked, surprised that Alex hadn’t taken him up on his offer.  
“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Besides, you chose to miss out on stuff the other day when I first got sick so you could take care of me. Please, stay and have fun,” Alex said, giving his friend a small smile of reassurance.  
“As long as you’re sure. Feel better, dude,” Jack said sympathetically. Alex walked out of the bathroom and made his way back to the bus. He quickly changed into his PJs before getting his headphones from his bunk.   
Deciding that laying down would be a bad idea, Alex got comfortable under his blanket in the front lounge. He plugged his headphones into his phone and put on a calming playlist that he’d listened to before when his stomach was upset. He shut his eyes and tried to let the music calm him some.  
\--------------  
A couple hours later, Alex started to wake up from the nap that he ended up taking. He still had his headphones in, still trying to help himself feel better. Suddenly, the bus door opened, and his friends walked in, holding shopping bags.  
“Hey Alex, how’re you feeling?” Jack asked as the three of them put the bags on the counter.  
“A bit better than earlier, but still not great,” Alex replied.  
“We’re sorry to hear that, man,” Rian said back.  
“I’m sorry if I worried you guys, I really thought that I was fine,” Alex said, sounding a bit embarrassed.  
“Don’t apologize, man, it’s not like you wanted this to happen. You can’t help getting sick,” Zack said back.  
“Hey, we got you some stuff to help you feel better!” Jack said, changing the subject.  
“Wait, what? You guys didn’t have to do anything for me,” Alex replied.  
“It’s all small stuff. First, we got you more anti-nausea medicine,” Rian started.  
“We also got you Gatorade and broth, since it seems that real food is a bit too much for you right now,” Zack said, pulling these things out of the bag.  
“The last three things were my idea!” Jack exclaimed.  
“What is it? Everything you guys did so far is already so great of you guys,” Alex replied.  
“Well, I got you some tea that is supposed to help calm an upset stomach. Also, I got you some peppermint essential oil, because smelling it is supposed to combat nausea,” Jack started, handing the oil to Alex so he could read the side of the packaging.  
“This stuff will help a lot. What’s the last thing?” Alex asked.  
“Okay, you might think this is kind of lame, but I got you this stuffed animal that smells like the peppermint oil. That way, when you’re trying to sleep with an upset stomach, you can snuggle this and hopefully calm yourself some. Also, if you’re sick and the three of us have to do shit and can’t be with you, you have a buddy to hang out with!” Jack exclaimed, passing Alex a stuffed dog.   
As soon as he touched it, Alex felt how soft and comfortable it was. He realized how much use he’d get out of it, sick or healthy.  
“I love this, thank you so much, Jack. It even kind of looks like one of my dogs back home!” Alex exclaimed.  
“That’s what I was going for. I’m glad you like it, and I hope this stuff will help you to feel better,” Jack said with a smile.  
“It absolutely will, thank you guys so much,” Alex replied.  
“You’re welcome. Do you want to watch a movie with us or something?” Zack offered.  
“Um, I don’t really think that looking at a moving screen would be a good idea for me right now,” Alex replied.  
“Good point. Card game instead?” Rian tried.  
“Let’s do it!” Alex exclaimed. The four of them spent the day all together, Jack, Rian and Zack doing everything they could to help Alex feel better.   
By the next day, Alex was feeling back to normal, and he knew that it was all thanks to his friends and all of the wonderful things they did for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is another request for CNF!! My posting might be a bit all over the place this next week, because it's finals time in college! I'm trying to write/type one story a day, so I can keep consistently posting for you guys! I still have a couple more requests to finish up, but please send them in if you have them, I really do love writing them so much. I hope you all enjoyed this story, and I'll have another up soon! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
